ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to examine the theoretical underpinnings of smart urbanism by approaching it as part of a much older urban phenomenon: modernity. First, the chapter explores Bacon’s New atlantis where technology is employed to understand, rationalize and control the built and the natural environment. It unpacks the notion of modernity, emphasizing its impact on the conceptualization and development of the city. Second, the same conceptual thread is followed throughout the Second Industrial Revolution and the diffusion of modernism. The narrative cuts across the philosophy of Nietzsche and the visual arts of Expressionism and Futurism, to shed light on the bipolar experience of the Modernist city as a cradle of both order and chaos. Third, the chapter moves to Bauman’s theory of light modernity to illuminate the diffusion of Information and Communication Technology and its profound but scarcely visible impact on the design and life of cities. Finally, the focus splits between the real-life cases of Los Angeles and Singapore as the pioneers in smart urbanism, and the abstract visions of digital cities cultivated by thinkers like Pascal and Mitchell. As the chapter concludes, the smart city lies in an ambiguous terrain between the real and the fictional, where castles in the air can be easily mistaken for down-to-earth urban spaces.
